Eight months in, Trudeau less starry-eyed
PM touts income-tax cut, child-care benefit, CPP plan, but tough issues still ahead
OTTAWA— Justin Trudeau summed up his first months in government with a self-congratulatory pat on the back for keeping key electoral promises to aid middle-class families.
Yet in a news conference eight months after taking power, he appeared a more wary leader than the exuberant campaigner of 2015, deflecting questions, revealing little, even refusing to reiterate certain campaign promises on tough issues still ahead.
The prime minister touted his government’s quick action to bring in an income-tax cut, new child benefit and a new national plan to enhance the Canada Pension Plan, even as he conceded he’s had to remind his own ministers to pace themselves for a four-year term.
“We don’t have to accomplish everything immediately and we can’t expect to be able to accomplish everything within the first few months,” Trudeau said. “There still remains a lot to be done.”
Many of his statements were cautious declarations of good intentions or “responsible” approaches to controversies such as how to replace Canada’s aging fighter jets, whether to aid Bombardier or how to deal with Russia’s aggressive posture in Eastern Europe at an upcoming NATO summit.
He even dodged giving a direct answer on Montreal road diversions to protect an endangered species of frogs. Trudeau did reveal he hopes that Britons — who will vote Thursday on whether to remain within the European Union — opt to stay.
“I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’ve always believed we’re stronger together,” Trudeau said, calling Britain a valued ally of Canada’s on the issue of free trade with Europe. “But I will allow the people of Great Britain to make their own determination.”
Trudeau defended his government’s diplomatic approach to international players such as Russia, saying he promised voters he would “re-engage Canada in the world in positive ways, whether it’s fixing the relationship with the United States, folding in a strong relationship with Mexico into a continental approach, re-engaging with the UN, and yes indeed, cautiously re-engaging with people we disagree with.”
Trudeau refused, however, to restate a key commitment of the Liberals’ 2015 campaign: that he would not buy the Lockheed Martin F-35 op- tion that the Conservatives had embraced, but instead would stage an open competition to pick which fighter jet would replace Canada’s nearly 30-year-old CF-18s.
In the wake of reports he is about to sole-source Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet jets to fill what his government has taken to calling a looming “capacity gap,” Trudeau shrugged off “speculation.”
Trudeau also reflected on the work of wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau when asked if it was time to modernize the role and provide resources for spouse of a prime minister, such as his own. Trudeau answered in French, “Absolutely.”
Trudeau and his wife were dogged by headlines when they first hired two nannies on the public payroll to help her take care of their three children and juggle various official and unofficial tasks.
In May, she told a newspaper she needed more staff to “serve the people.” The Trudeaus have since dropped one caregiver from the public payroll and hired a replacement privately.
Trudeau’s government is expected to soon reveal the mandate for a national public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls across Canada.
On Wednesday, he said he would like the inquiry to “offer justice to the victims” and offer victims’ families “an opportunity to heal . . . and share their stories in a meaningful way to help with the process of coming to grips with unspeakable tragedies.
“Finally, I expect that this national public inquiry will clearly set a path forward to end this ongoing national tragedy, to look at ways to prevent this from continuing, from happening again.”
Overall, Trudeau dodged direct answers when asked about mistakes or lessons learned.
Asked directly about his collision with New Democrat MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau on the floor of the House of Commons, he declined to say what was going through his head at the time, but claimed he and his government had recovered well. He said as the House of Commons rose last week “the tone was significantly more positive,” pointing to collaboration on forming a parliamentary committee to work on electoral reform and on passing legislation through the Commons and senate to allow medical assistance in dying.
In contrast, leading Conservative and New Democrat MPs summed up the parliamentary session with poor reviews of the Liberal government’s performance.
Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose’s office released a “reality check” on Trudeau’s claims, saying his government will force “future middle-class families to pay” for the Liberals’ $30-billion deficit. The Conservatives also slammed Trudeau’s foreign policy motto of “responsible conviction,” suggesting it has taken “irresponsible” stands against Iran, China, Russia and the terrorist group Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
NDP finance critic Guy Caron told reporters Tuesday the Liberal government has punted many decisions down the road, including those on pipelines and environmental reviews, mocking Trudeau for launching a new round of “consultations about consultations.”